Sig Christenson is a veteran military reporter who has made nine trips to the war zone. He writes regularly for Hearst about service members, veterans and heroes, among other topics. He is also the co-founder and former president of Military Reporters and Editors, founded in 2002.

“He stated he wanted to do it for the sake of the men and women of Afghanistan, that they had been wronged,” Owens said, adding that Abdo also hoped to support alleged Fort Hood mass shooter Nidal Malik Hasan, a fellow Muslim soldier he felt was mistreated in the Army over his faith.

As testimony opened here, a picture of Abdo's journey from Fort Campbell to a budget hotel within walking distance of Fort Hood came into focus. The trail was littered with cash purchases, time-stamped receipts and videos that prosecutors used to build their case.

Everywhere he went, from a Wal-Mart in Plano to Guns Galore in Killeen, where Abdo bought a type of smokeless powder that could be used to set off a homemade bomb, he aroused suspicion.

In Kentucky, a gun store clerk refused to sell him a .40-caliber handgun he'd selected for its “knock-down” power and called an MP commander. Workers at Guns Galore were so alarmed they phoned police, a move that ended in Abdo's arrest.

05/21/2012

An AWOL soldier accused of plotting a terrorist attack off Fort Hood has one advantage as his trial begins today in a federal court: Prosecutors have to prove he was poised to commit mass murder.

Pfc. Naser J. Abdo was arrested July 27 at a discount hotel within walking distance of Fort Hood with weapons, enough gunpowder to make at least one bomb and step-by-step directions from an al-Qaida mgazine on how to do that.

But three veteran attorneys called the allegations an “inchoate offense,” or one that wasn't carried out. They say it could be tougher to prove, but prosecutors have at least one trump card: a statement they say Abdo gave outlining plans to kill soldiers, their families and their friends in a Killeen restaurant.

“The government is going to have to prove its case, and the defense is going to be looking very closely at making the government show that he knowingly and intentionally engaged in this violence,” said Jeffrey Addicott, who heads St. Mary's University's Center for Terrorism Law. “That's a little hard for the government because the act didn't take place.”

A Muslim infantryman who claimed conscientious objector status, Abdo, 22, is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempted murder, among a host of allegations, and faces a life sentence in prison. The Army said Abdo fled his post after being charged with possession of child pornography.

Federal agents say Abdo admitted that he was planning to blow up a restaurant and shoot the victims as they escaped. Military attorney Frank Spinner and South Texas College of Law Professor Geoffrey Corn said prosecutors will have to show Abdo wasn't just toying with the idea of an attack.

“Preparing for a crime is not enough to be guilty of an attempt. The jury has to be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant had gone beyond preparation and had initiated perpetration,” said Corn, an expert on criminal, military and national security cases.

“It comes down to, where are the lines?” said Spinner, known for representing high-profile defendants. “Has he crossed that line from just an idea, and ideas are not crimes, to actually moving toward the completion of the crime?”